America’s #1 Spiritual Problem ~ by Al Ells

Our long time mentor and friend, Al Ells of Leaders That Last Ministries, has just posted a great article on his website entitled America’s #1 Spiritual Problem. Al always shares with a heart of love and compassion and always gives us steps to resolution. Click Here to gain from Al’s many years of counseling and mentoring experiences.

admin2018-06-12T19:59:36-06:00February 21st, 2011|Comments Off

‘The gospel says you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, but more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope.’
~ Tim Keller

Your brightest possibilities are just one step past your darkest fears.
~ Unknown

Positive expectation is like the warm afternoon sun beaming through the window of your soul.
~Unknown

Anxiety is the emotional rehearsal of the worst-case scenario.
~ Unknown

We are equipped to minister by our own experience.
~ Roger Taylor

When ignorance becomes truth, we suffer.
~ Roger Taylor

“While a good leader sustains momentum, a great leader increases it.”
~John Maxwell

If He is prompting us to sow a seed, He is not trying to get something from us, He is trying to get something to us.
~ Bill Johnson

If we want America to be great, we must stop legalizing sin.
~ Church Billboard, Aztec, NM

Satan is the enemy of our life. God is the enemy of our sin.
~ Roger Taylor

What we walk through on earth is something that God can use in someone else’s life.
~ Unknown

“Human love seeks people’s comfort at the expense of truth. God’s love seeks people’s comfort in the midst of truth.”
~ Wayne Jacobsen

What we walk through on earth is something that God can use in someone else’s life.
~ Kim Potter

“The devil needs fear to operate in your life in the same way I need faith to operate in your life.”
~ Kim Potter

All addictions are rooted in trauma.
~ Bessel Van Derkolk, MD

“God, I hate this. Help me feel how you feel about it.”

“Don’t focus on someone’s history or you will miss seeing their destiny!”
~ Craig Cooney

Keep seeking first the kingdom and dismiss every attempt of the enemy to derail your vision or deter My purpose and will for your life.
~ Russ Walden

Grace is unmerited favor.
~ From God’s Word

Grace is Divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life.
~ From God’s Word

“Grace isn’t grace if we have to be good enough for it to apply to us.”
~R. T. Kendall

It’s not what you take with you when you leave this world behind you…it’s what you leave behind you when you go.
~The Booth Brothers, Song Lyric

Prosperity to me is having the time, the money and the resources to do what God calls you to do when He calls you to do it.
~ Doug Addison

Will we trust that God is good even when life isn’t?
~ Wayne Jacobsen

“If I’m going to live at peace, I’ve got to surrender my expectation of perfection.”
~Pastor Steven Furtick

A monument has never been made to a critic. ~Mark Lowry

Everything you drag out into the light has no power over you.
~Chandra Pierce

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to have a good memory!
~Unknown

When you put your trust in the One who knows best; the present pain will eventually turn into the greatest gain in life.
~Unknown

Guilt says, “I owe you.” Anger says, “You owe me.” Greed says, “I owe me.” Jealousy says, “God owes me.”
~Andy Stanley

The Gospel must be the bad news of the conviction of sin before it can be the good news of redemption!
~ Chuck Colson

Regretfully, much of what passes for Christian living today, is nothing other than people pretending to be what they are not.
~ Wayne Jacobsen The Naked Church

In our relationship with God, the level of intimacy is directly related to our level of dedication to God.
~ Unknown

A lie only runs until it’s taken over by a truth. ~Unknown

Religion will not defeat our strongholds.
~ Roger Taylor

Our love hunger is the monster within us that creates the atmosphere for demonic activity!
~ Roger Taylor

In relationship with God, we are challenged to move into Kingdom living, but without God we remain in the Kingdom of Stupid!
~ Roger Taylor

If we aren’t certain of God’s motives towards us, we will never have confidence to engage His presence in the reality of our lives.
We’ll keep Him at a safe distance and miss what He desires most for us – friendship with Him more real and more powerful than any we’ve known before.
~Wayne Jacobsen

Repentance is an invitation to intimacy.
~ Roger Taylor

Living in love with God, things are real and not religious.
~ Ron McGatlin

If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.
~ Psalms 34:18 MSG

Make sure your feet are in the right place, and then stand firm.
~Abraham Lincoln

Lust can blind you, but love will clear up your vision!
~ Roger Taylor

The true life-changing treasures of Heaven are found in relationship with God, not just in service to God.
~ Roger Taylor

Some of God’s kids are so determined to serve God that they don’t make time to get to know the God they serve.
~ Roger Taylor

Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
Proverbs 13:20 MSG

Stillness is a discipline that takes continual, conscious practice, but the act of stillness sharpens our senses and makes us more aware of God’s presence in our present circumstances.
~ Unknown

Our natural reaction in moments of uncertainty is to restlessly bounce between anxiety and despair.
~ Unknown

Joy mystifies the devil because he doesn’t have any and never has!
~Dutch Sheets

At times I will reveal My will; I instruct in My way; but I withhold My time until it is right and ripe. ~Father

“All of our fret and worry comes from calculating without God.”
~Oswald Chambers

While faith moves mountains, unforgiveness makes mountains.
~Unknown

Adverse circumstances bring us to the end of self-sufficiency.
~Roger Taylor, Our Glory Stories

In a community of friendship where people live honestly, rumors have no power.
– Wayne Jacobsen, “Honest in God”

Irritation and resentment will not change anything. It will only block your way to Spirit wisdom and override your ability to love and be at peace.
~ Marsha Burns

Worry always gives a little thing a big shadow. ~Church billboard, Aztec, NM

“As you think, you change the structure of your brain.”
~Dr. Caroline Leaf, Cognitive Neuroscientist and Author

People who are thankful are known to be depressed less, get better grades in school, sleep better, stay healthy, have deeper friendships, and have a brighter outlook on life.
~Unknown

Growth doesn’t happen just because God touches us, but because we respond to that touch by allowing Him to grow in us.
~Wayne Jacobsen, In Season

Fools are headstrong and do what they like; wise people take advice.
~Proverbs 12:15 MSG

Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
~Proverbs 13:20 MSG

You’ll get more from the rebuke of a sage than from the song and dance of fools.
~Ecclesiastes 7:5 MSG

“Our thoughts create feelings; those feelings create behavior; then those behaviors create more thoughts. “
~Heidi Mortenson

If you don’t have a heart to give out of your lack, you won’t give out of your abundance.
~Kim Potter

A generous person gives above and beyond what is required of them. They look for ways to invest in the Kingdom of God and in God’s people. Their heart is to give.
~Kim Potter

You either experience the pain of discipline or the pain of disappointment.
~Nick Saban

So often we run from God fearing His wrath while He is pursuing us to save us from destruction.
~Dutch Sheets

While being in God’s presence, talk to Him slowly, listen to Him slowly and leave Him slowly.
~Dutch Sheets

First we learn to linger, then God becomes addictive and we love to linger.
~Dutch Sheets

Most middle class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play and to play at their worship.
~Gordon Dahl

We have a destiny to fulfill not an existence to waste.
~Dutch Sheets

Until you have peace with God, you will never experience true peace in this life.
~Charles Stanley

Do not count the days. Make the days count!
~Billboard, Farmington, NM

No One turns into a genius by drinking.
~Shane Lowry

“You never know how strong you are, until strong is the only option you have.”
~Kim Potter

Sin finally culminates in some sort of malfunction in the human body.
~Roger Taylor

Bold faith stands on the shoulders of quiet trust. ~Bill Johnson

I do not work only in cases where there are no obstacles; but I glory in over-ruling the prevailing circumstances, and I take pleasure in bringing victories in those places where no victory is anywhere in sight.
~ Frances J. Roberts ~ Come Away My Beloved

No negative force can occupy the same place as My Holy Spirit.
~Frances J. Roberts ~ Come Away My Beloved

You may have experienced great hurt, but from this moment forward don’t glorify the pain. Instead, magnify the Savior.
~ Unknown

Getting rid of fear in your life is a powerful gateway to your freedom from illness.
~ Dr. Henry Wright

Why don’t we start getting right with God now instead of when we have to?
~ Dr. Henry Wright

If you are listening to fear then you’re not listening to God.
~ Dr. Henry Wright

We want strength for the battle, but God says strength comes FROM the battle.
~ Bill Johnson

God says, “The devil needs fear to operate in your life in the same way I need faith to operate in your life.”
~Kim Potter

What if we relied on His power to push through the pain of life, hanging on for God’s blessing in this or the next life? What if we often give up right before our breakthrough?
~Unknown

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
~James 1:12 MSG

What if we didn’t wish to be removed from the rough situation but trusted Him to help us through it?
~ Unknown

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. The following 3 one liners were found on a T Shirt advertisement! You’ll understand them if you are over 65!
1) “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. If Grandma ain’t happy. Run!”
2) “Sometimes I talk to myself then we both laugh and laugh!”
3) “There’s no such thing as a grouchy old person. The truth is once you get old you stop being polite and start being honest!”

Our lives allow us to be only as transparent as our sin allows us to be.
~ Gerri Taylor

Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of how he hoped we could create a world where all of God’s children would be judged not by their color but by the content of their character.

Living in a culture counter to a people’s values and beliefs becomes a test of trust and obedience.
~ Unknown

“What we practice daily is what we truly believe; all the rest is just religious talk.”
~The Late Peter Lord

Our biggest problem is that people want to get healed without getting rid of the sins that are at the root of the disease.
~ Dr. Henry Wright

A sign of immaturity in our faith is our inability to care for anything or anyone other than ourselves.
~ Unknown

When we step outside the commandments of God we open ourselves up to the blessings of the devil. ~ Dr. Henry Wright

Knowledge ties the past to the present but wisdom takes the present and moves it to the future. ~Henry Wright

When anxiety knocks on the door say, “Jesus would you mind answering that!”
~ Max Lucado

There’s a reason the windshield is larger than your rear view mirror. Your future matters more than your past.
~ Max Lucado

Don’t think your mistakes prove your lack of love. Find a love bigger than your failures and you’ll find a life that grows increasingly free from wanting to go your own way.
~ Wayne Jacobsen

Anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.
~Proverbs 12:25

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
~Ecclesiastes 7:9

Your body is a responder to who you are in thought.
~ Dr. Henry Wright

Self-pity is the super glue from hell that binds you to the past.
~Dr. Henry Wright

It doesn’t work out well for us when we try to follow Jesus in disobedience and want to be healed at the same time.
~Dr. Wright

Diet exercise natural supplements or doctors care will not overcome sickness and disease that’s rooted in sin.
~Dr. Henry Wright

When we embrace the enemy’s lies we end up suffering at his hands.
Dr. Henry Wright ~ Exposing the Spiritual Roots of Disease.

We don’t enter into His Kingdom by a sinner’s prayer, going forward at a religious gathering, or reciting an orthodox creed, but by learning to truth Who He is and by living in that trust no matter what life hurls at us.
~Wayne Jacobsen, He Loves Me

I do not read the word to study the word. I read the word because the word studies me.
~ Bill Johnson

True forgiveness has a P. S. It never happened!
~ Roger Taylor

The law of God brings you health. The law of sin brings you disease.
~ Dr. Henry Wright

In the Kingdom of God there is no such thing as retirement. You serve and “kick butt” until you fly away!
~ Dr. Henry Wright

The box of organized religion is not about whether you go to a building or not; it’s the way you’re processing His work in you.
~ Wayne Jacobsen

~ Jesus said according to your faith be it unto you. The enemy wants to replace that with according to your fear be it unto you.
Dr. Henry Wright

Every moment is a fresh beginning.
~ Roadside sign, Farmington, NM

Trials are trails and pathways of preparation rather than the end of the story.
~Lisa Bevere

Quitting is not an option for goddaughters who desire to honor the love of their Father and the sacrifice of His Son.
~Lisa Bevere

For years we have heard the saying “WWJD”…what would Jesus do? I want to propose an additional question…”WWJF” what would Jesus feel?
~ James Goll

All of our five basic physical senses site, hearing, touch, taste, and smell are also essential to our spiritual makeup because they function to receive and discern Revelation from God.
~ James Goll

Written words are important because they are easier to find and harder to forget than words we simply speak.
~Lisa Bevere

When revival breaks out, LOVE BREAKS OUT as the strongest part of it. Expect to be receiving more love and giving more love…than you EVER have in the days and months just ahead!
~ Steve Schulz – Elijah List

To the degree our love tank is not full, our thinking is skewed and our life experience is diminished!
~ Roger Taylor

“For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”
~ Hebrews 3:14, New Living Translation

We all have a standing invitation into His presence. Don’t be afraid to enter.
~ Lisa Bevere

He is near. You can’t miss God…He is everywhere. You are surrounded…His hand is upon you. You are being followed…He’s got your back. If you can’t miss Him, then you don’t have to be stressed. Set your heart on Him, and move forward in confidence.
~ Lisa Bevere – Godmothers.

Making a mistake does not make you a mistake, and if you think it does then you are mistaken!
~ Lisa Bevere

In spite of irrefutable evidence like the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the dead are raised and demons are cast out, the religious can remain steadfast in their denial, bondage and unbelief. They become the blind, deaf and lame.
~ Unknown

If you are going to teach something make sure you have first experienced it. For example, don’t teach about deliverance if you’ve not been delivered!
~ Bill Johnson

Every experience with God increases the depth and power of your ministry.
~ Bill Johnson

If you are born again, your ministry has begun. Your testimony is powerful because it is backed by Heaven.
~ Bill Johnson

Every personal encounter with God is a gift to be freely given to others.

A ministry born out of experience with God is much more powerful and potentially life changing than a ministry born out of study.

Religion manufactures its own truth.

“Because the sentence against a evil work is not executed speedily, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil.” Ecc. 8:11

God allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent by His power.
~Graham Cooke

Faith is the result of our surrender not striving.
~ Bill Johnson

We don’t discover God through analysis. We discover Him through surrender.
~ Bill Johnson

The road to success is always under construction. ~ Arnold Palmer

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
~ C.S.Lewis

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
~ Nelson Mandela

‘Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.’
~ Corrie ten Boom

If you want to feel good, do good.
~Road side sign, Farmington, NM

One of the quickest ways to forget about God is to be consumed with “self.”
~ Craig Groeschel

Serving isn’t something we DO. A servant is who we’re called to BE.
~ Craig Groeschel

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, so things done in impatience cannot be expected to bear His fruit. ~Rick Joyner

“If you don’t have a heart to give out of your lack, you won’t give out of your abundance.”
~ Kim Potter

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
~Martin Luther

The good news is that peace isn’t found in the absence of problems. Peace is found in the presence of the Lord.
~unknown

Through pride and presumption come nothing but strife, But [skillful and Godly] wisdom is with those who welcome [well-advised] counsel.
Proverbs 13:10

Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is credited only for a moment.
Proverbs 12:19

Wisdom protects and guards us.
Proverb 4:5-6

There is no price tag we can put on God’s peace manifesting itself on a truly wise person.
Proverbs 19:20

God’s plan is always the best. Sometimes the process is painful and hard but do not forget that when He is silent, He’s doing something for you.
~ Brittney’s Blog

It’s the hidden things in a relationship that birth our crisis moments.
~ Roger Taylor, The Evidence Is In, Vol II

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
~ Martin Luther King

One of the greatest contributions to darkness in our lives, one of the greatest hindrances to our relationship with our Heavenly Father, one of the greatest barriers to intimacy, one of the greatest barriers to living a successful Christian life is
LOVE HUNGER.
~ Roger Taylor, Love Hunger

Without Him we can’t…without us He won’t!
~ Bill Johnson

Breaking the power of religion in the church is just as important as breaking the power of demonic influence in society.
~ Roger Taylor, The Evidence Is In, Vol I.

Father designed love to be the only secure foundation for human life to be built on.
~ Roger Taylor, The Evidence Is In, Vol I, #4

There are many reasons why we sin, but there are no excuses.
~ Joan Hunter

It is the hidden things in a relationship that birth our crisis moments!
~ Roger Taylor, The Evidence Is In, Vol II

It isn’t about whether you do or don’t go to church, it’s about whether you do or don’t have a relationship with Him.
~ Wayne Jacobsen

A grateful heart is a magnet to miracles.
~ Unknown

We can teach what we know, but ultimately we reproduce who we are.
~ Wayne Cordeiro – “Sifted”, pg. 74

Escape quickly from the company of fools; they’re a waste of your time, a waste of your words.
Proverbs 14:7 MSG

Faith works best in the dark!
~ Soren Kierkegaard

First Rule of Resilience: Allow your present crises to REfine you, not DEfine you.
~ Al Ells, Leaders That Last Ministries

When you focus on what you lack it inspires despair in your heart.
~ Charles Stanley

When things go wrong, don’t go with them.
Raise a Hallelujah instead!

Changing tomorrow starts today!
~ Unknown

Father’s love increases faith! Father’s love motivates and empowers!
~ Roger Taylor

Religion produces the ‘have to’s in life” and “have to’s” can promote rebellion. Love relationship with God produces the ‘want to’s” in life!
~ Roger Taylor

You can be still because He is active.
You can rest because He is busy.
~ Psalm 46:10

When fear comes knocking, let faith answer the door.
~ Gaither Vocal Band

God is waiting for me to love Him more than I love me.
~ Terry MacAlmon

There is nothing worse than being a know it all when you don’t KNOW IT ALL!
~Roger Taylor

A lie only runs until it’s overtaken by the truth.
“Be sure your sin will find you out.”

Give more than you promise.
~ Unknown – seen on a T Shirt!

You can spot a false prophet by their actions, for the fruit of their character will be obvious.
~Matthew 5:16 The Passion Translation

Every issue we face is already in Christ because we are in Christ!
~ Graham Cooke

When crises comes, start from a place of victory not from a place of heading towards victory!
~Graham Cooke

Right thinking will always generate faith.
~ Graham Cooke

Hatred results in stupidity.
~ Roger Taylor

Religion kills. Relationships thrills!
~ Terry MacAlmon

You are not vulnerable to the enemy unless you want to be.
~ Graham Cooke

When you make God your enemy, self-destruction is inevitable. This is true for individuals and for nations.
~ Roger Taylor

It is the unhealed part of us that empowers poor life decisions!
~Roger Taylor

When we live in this world without God, we live in a fantasy world! When we live in this world with God, we live in the real world!
~Roger Taylor

The morning sunrise is like salvation. It frees us from the darkness of life without God!
~Roger Taylor

If we choose life without God we are among the walking dead.
~Roger Taylor

The cleverness of the know-it-all becomes the trap that ensnares him. I Cor. 3:19b

One evidence that love hunger is present in a marriage relationship is the absence of consistent and mutual love, honor and respect. If love hunger is present then discovery and healing are required to bring lasting change. Life is love and love is life, says the Lord!
~ Roger Taylor

When we live in this world without God we live in a fantasy world. When we live in this world with God we live in the real world!
~ Roger Taylor

God can do more with your surrender than you can do with your control.
~ Unknown

The tragedy of modern Christianity is that much of it is performance orientated. We think we have to ‘do’ something to ‘get’ something from God.
~ Unknown

Who are the ones who press in to know the ways of God? They are those whose great prize in life is intimacy with the Father.
~ Randy Clark

Son and Daughter of the Most High God you were made to shine from the inside out. You are wildly loved and you wear His love so well.
~ Roger Taylor

Ignorance is a fool’s justification for sin.
~ Roger Taylor

Pain plus resentment always produces bitterness.
Pain plus forgiveness always produces LOVE.
~ Ron McGatlin

Affection is the essence of God.
~ Roger Taylor

One of the real challenges of a true Christian life is taking steps of faith in the Spirit realm where flesh doesn’t want to go!
~ Roger Taylor

When doubt comes up, put the devil’s face on it!
~ Roger Taylor

New life comes when our have to becomes our want to!
~Roger Taylor

Affection is like cocaine to the love hungry person!
~ Roger Taylor

True victors are those who’ve survived doing it wrong and made it right!
~Gerri Taylor

Every human being has strongholds and the greatest stronghold of all is the absence of Father’s love!
~ Roger Taylor

A smiling look, a gentle touch and a soft voice =
The Mother Heart of Father God.
~ Gerri Taylor

~Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations!
~ Jetta L., Massachusetts

When things go wrong, don’t go with them.
~Unknown

God allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent in His power.
~ Graham Cooke

Peace is the O2 of Heaven.
~ Bill Johnson – The Way of Life

Natural human life is the substandard existence born from sin. Natural living is a life of poverty compared to living supernaturally in and with God.
~ Roger Taylor

The height of God’s truth is balanced by the depth of His grace.
~Unknown

satan is the enemy of our life. God is the enemy of our sin.
~ Roger Taylor

Truth is to be known by experience.
~ Bill Johnson

Trust is established when you obey without understanding.
~ Bill Johnson

COMMON SENSE is so UNCOMMON that it’s often mistaken for genius.
~ Unknown

Success is born out of arrogance, but greatness comes from humility.
~ Marco Pierre White

Pay attention to when people react with anger and hostility to your boundaries. You’ve found the edge where their respect for you ends.
~ Unknown

Even people who betray you are part of the plan. Jesus couldn’t get to the cross without Judas.
~ Unknown

Good things come to those who believe. Better things come to those who wait, and the best things come to those who don’t give up!
~ Unknown

Once we learn to “be” in His love, He will release us to “do” because of His love.
~ Roger Taylor

Every gift of love Father gives you is a gift of love waiting to be given.
~ Roger Taylor

Lust is benefiting yourself at the expense of another because lust desires to get. Love is benefiting another at your expense because love desires to give.
~ The late Dr. Ed Cole

Human loyalty requires you to be loyal to one at the expense of another and it costs you your inheritance. Kingdom loyalty never requires you to be loyal to one at the expense of another and it leads you to your destiny.
~Bill Johnson

When you are in chaos and confusion it’s hard to find love. When you are at peace and rest, love finds you.
~The late Jack Frost

God sets us up for success, not failure.
~ The late Dr. Ed Cole

Our relationships with others are reflections of our relationship with God.
~ The late Dr. Ed Cole

Don’t bargain with God. He doesn’t negotiate His character!
~ The late Dr. Ed Cole

A small mistake can outweigh wisdom and honor.
~ The late Dr. Ed Cole

A broken promise is the same as a lie.
~ The late Dr. Ed Cole

Life without passion gives way to a life of reckless abandon.
~ Bill Johnson

“Marriage is not so much finding the right person as being the right person.”
~Unknown

“Your wit’s end is the beginning of God’s power”

“Love is life and life is love”

“If ya got the fruit, ya got the root!”

“Everything that happens to you is not good, but God uses everything for your ultimate good.”
~ Ronnie Floyd, President National Day of Prayer

“The quest for His face is the ultimate quest, but to embrace the quest for the face of God one must be ready to die.”
~ Bill Johnson, Face to Face With God, Expanded Edition.

America’s #1 Spiritual Problem ~ by Al Ells

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